I am starting to get bored with the look of my plain black rg-7321, so I am currently planning on giving her an evo7 plus air norton, but mor importantly, I would really like to sand the top of the body, put some nice maple veneer on it and put some clear highgloss paint on it. The sides and back of the guitar would just stay the way they are.

Now, I am not very experienced in doing woodwork, so I have some questions:

- What can I do so the maple veneer looks nice and gray-black? I would not want to see any brownish tint remain, it should look just gray, with the veneer clearly visible.

- Are there any things I need to look out for when taking off the neck and then putting it on again?

- Are there any issues between old and new layers of paint? I mean, the sides would remain the way they are now, so is there a risk that the new paint would chip off easily?

- Is it possible to just put some kind of "paint" onto the fretboard so it becomes black? I mean without having to sand it first or removing the frets.

I recommend you go to www.projectguitar.com and search under their forum- very helpful topics for your project.

I'm no expert, but I can forsee problems trying to preserve the finish on the sides, considering how the top and sides don't meet at a perfect right angle- there is a slight curve, and all the sanding you'll do will probably affect the side-finish in some way... and when you clear-coat the final product, you'll want it even all over the guitar body, and taping off the existing finish is going to leave an ugly seam.

Also, one thing I glean from people who have build extraordinary guitars is that their successes have been built on learning from failures, and you yourself want to make sure that your guitar isn't going to end up a causualty of a learning experience. I don't know what your resources are like, but perhaps you should try refinishing/veneering a cheapie guitar before you start messing with a guitar that you don't want to risk wrecking.

I do have a cheapie guitar I could try it on, but I am not really interested in doing this kind of work for its own sake, I just want a maple top on my 7321 with the least financial effort possible.

That would most likely lead to me ruining a very nice and beloved guitar, so I think I am not going to try it. One thing I could imagine doing though is practicing veneering on a plain board, since I don't imagine it being THAT hard. If I get good results from that, I might take the 7321, sand it, veneer it and then give it to a specialist to do the paintjob - if I can find someone who does it at a price I find bearable.

That's a lot of ifs, though. I got one more:

If I choose to go down that road, I will post pictures. Don't hold your breath.